Marin spent the entire night in his hotel bed in Vienna, thinking about what to do in the coming months.
The cost of living in Vienna was high—a clean hotel room for three people, including stabling for horses, cost 40 pfennig per day.
On top of that, Marin and his two companions, plus the expenses for feeding his warhorse Karl, were costing him another 40 pfennig per day.
Even feeding two cows with grass came at a price.
After all, this was Vienna, not some rural town where grass grew everywhere.
The innkeeper charged for hay as well.
Spending over 80 pfennig a day was becoming unbearable for Marin.
He decided to temporarily leave Vienna for a place with lower living costs.
If he could hunt along the way and make some money, that would be ideal.
The next morning, after making up his mind, Marin instructed Kahn and Kohler to pack up their belongings.
Once they were ready, Marin settled the bill with the innkeeper and set off on an impromptu journey with his two attendants.
As for their destination, Marin had already decided—they would return to the Black Forest.
The Black Forest was rich in wildlife, and with Marin’s excellent archery skills and Kahn’s support, they could make a fortune through hunting.
Moreover, the local lords around the Black Forest didn’t seem to strictly enforce laws against poaching, making it an ideal place for Marin to “operate.”
Marin planned to accumulate a significant amount of money through hunting.
Once he had enough, he would upgrade his equipment and properly outfit himself, Kahn, and Kohler.
Additionally, after the Italian War, he planned to buy a small estate and become a landowner.
As for gaining noble status, that would depend on following the emperor into battle.
Marin knew the outcome of the war—during the First Italian War, the Holy Roman Empire would emerge victorious, providing plenty of opportunities for military achievements.
As long as he survived the battlefield and used his foreknowledge to his advantage, he could at least secure the lowest rank of nobility, a formal knight.
With a bit of luck, he might even be able to attain the title of baron.
If he managed to capture the fleeing Charles VIII during the chaos, the merit would have been even greater.
Furthermore, Marin needed to recruit three more knight’s attendants.
Even impoverished knights typically had at least five attendants or more.
With only two, Marin felt particularly under-resourced.
However, maintaining five knight’s attendants would be a significant expense.
Some knights with poor character would resort to highway robbery when they ran out of money, but Marin was principled and refused to stoop to such dishonorable deeds.
Thus, he decided to first rely on hunting to save enough money.
Once he had enough, he would recruit five attendants and equip each of them with a pack horse, leather armor, and spears.
After some thought, Marin realized that while Kahn was a reliable combatant, Kohler was somewhat frail and better suited for logistics and strategy.
So, when recruiting three more attendants, he would prioritize those who were skilled in combat and trustworthy.
Marin chose Kahn and Kohler because of Kahn’s honest and simple nature, while Kohler was more of an incidental choice.
Besides, Marin knew where Kahn’s family lived, so if they ever betrayed him, he could track them down.
Currently, the economic situation in the German regions is bleak, with many refugees roaming the land.
However, Marin didn’t dare to recruit attendants from these refugees as their backgrounds were often unclear and unreliable.
While they might be suitable for regular soldiers, they weren’t ideal as knight’s attendants.
After all, knights often entrusted their backs to their attendants, so there was no room for carelessness.
After careful consideration, Marin decided to return to the Hoffman estate and recruit attendants from the estate’s serf families.
The Hoffman estate had over twenty serf households, and Marin “remembered” that there were a few strong young men among them.
His “older brother” Adler Hoffman had already selected five knight’s attendants, but there were still many strong lads on the estate.
After all, not every serf family had only one child.
Some families had several children, and due to the estate’s limited production, families with many children sometimes had to send some of them to the city to work as laborers.
Otherwise, the Hoffman estate couldn’t support so many people, especially considering that it only had 1,200 acres of poor-quality land.
Of course, before returning home, Marin felt it would be wise to save up more money through hunting.
In fact, old Hoffman was already worrying about the cost of armor and horses for his third and fourth sons.
After all, as a father, even if he expelled his sons from the family, he still had to provide them with warhorses, armor, and lances, along with a significant amount of travel expenses.
Marin planned to supplement the Hoffman family’s finances after returning home to improve the estate’s economy.
He also intended to offer some agricultural advice to increase the estate’s productivity.
A better financial situation on the estate would allow his younger brothers, Simon and Albert, to be properly equipped with horses, armor, and weapons when they were expelled from the family.
That way, they wouldn’t end up like Marin, who didn’t even have a pair of plate pants when he left home, let alone any attendants.
Furthermore, with ample funds, his younger sister Annie would have an easier time finding a good match when she married.
A larger dowry would make it easier for her to marry into a good family.
To ensure he had enough money to bring back, Marin, along with Kahn and Kohler, dove once more into the Black Forest for a frenzy of hunting.
The Black Forest in the Middle Ages was much larger than it would be in later centuries.
With much of the region undeveloped due to a limited population, the Black Forest retained a vast area of untouched wilderness.
To avoid getting lost, Marin had specifically bought a compass to navigate the dense, verdant forest.
Spring was a season of renewal, and the forest teemed with active wildlife.
Many animals, even during the day, were engaged in the “intimate” activities of mating.
Marin, ever opportunistic, didn’t bother to wish them well—instead, with a few swift arrows, he would turn the unfortunate pair into his next meal and, eventually, cash.
The sheer size of the medieval Black Forest meant it was teeming with wildlife.
However, this abundance created challenges for Marin and his companions when it came to transporting their game back to the nearby towns.
Eventually, Marin had to untie his large black ox, Li Chen, and use it to help carry the spoils.
After all, a four-wheeled ox cart couldn’t navigate the dense forest paths. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
On one occasion, Marin and his companions brought back so much game that it even caused a temporary drop in meat prices.
One day, Marin killed six red deer in the forest, which led to a short-term drop in the price of venison—from 5 pfennigs per pound (retail) to 4 pfennigs per pound, with the purchase price dropping from 4 pfennigs to 3 pfennigs.
Of course, after Marin and his companions moved on, the price of venison in the area soon returned to normal.
In response, some local lords sent people to drive Marin and his companions away.
To these lords, the game in the Black Forest was considered their private property.
However, the lords in the Black Forest region were generally minor nobles.
The more powerful lords typically controlled the more fertile agricultural regions.
These lesser lords were reluctant to offend wandering knights like Marin.
Even though Marin was hunting aggressively, they merely sent people to chase him off.
Marin, ever cautious, made sure to move on after staying in one area for just a day or two, selling his game and leaving before anyone could catch him in the act.
Given the slow communication in the Middle Ages, by the time the local lord learned of Marin’s hunting activities and sent someone to “enforce the law,” Marin and his companions were long gone.
On average, Marin and his companions were able to hunt two or three red deer per day, along with varying numbers of rabbits, foxes, and other small game.
However, Marin avoided hunting wild boar, as he wasn’t confident that his 60-pound bow could penetrate a boar’s thick hide and coarse hair.
As for Kahn’s previous success in taking down a wild boar, Marin attributed that to luck, as the boar had been charging at his warhorse, not at Kahn directly.
Kahn had only managed to kill the boar by attacking from the side when it was distracted.
Marin reasoned that unless Kahn was fully armored, he wouldn’t stand much of a chance in a head-on confrontation with a wild boar.
However, it seemed excessive to equip a squire with full plate armor, and Kahn couldn’t wear Marin’s armor because he was much taller than Marin.
The trio enjoyed a leisurely journey of hunting and making money while also admiring the scenic beauty of the Black Forest.
By the time they crossed into the territory of the Margraviate, Marin was astonished to discover that his personal wealth had grown to over 500 Marks—a sum nearly equivalent to the Hoffman estate’s annual income.
“Hunting is really profitable!” Marin exclaimed.
However, Marin knew well that the reason he could smoothly take back assets worth over 500 marks was because others recognized his status as an untitled knight.
Otherwise, if he were an ordinary hunter, he would have been extorted by city guards while entering or leaving the city, and a large portion of his profits would have been confiscated by the local lords.
Even if an ordinary hunter could catch a game worth 500 marks, at least 400 marks of it would be extorted by lords, tax officials, and city guards.
Moreover, ordinary hunters wouldn’t have horses.
This meant that hunters on foot couldn’t venture too deep into the Black Forest.
Spending the night in the forest would almost certainly result in being devoured by wolves.
Additionally, they didn’t have Marin’s archery skills or Kahn’s perfect partnership as a backup.
Thus, Marin’s success was difficult for an ordinary hunter to replicate.
And those with a knightly status typically wouldn’t bother practicing archery; they were used to close combat, and very few were proficient in archery.
Besides, who with any status would lower themselves to become a hunter?
Even Marin himself considered hunting to be merely a temporary strategy.
If a time traveler had to rely on hunting for a living, it would be the greatest disgrace in the world of time travel.